Sigh No More
by YANIsweetness7
Summary: The Bellas do not want Kacee and the feeling is mutual, but differences are set aside when need outweighs want for both parties. Follows the plot of the film. Jesse/OC.
1. Smile

Kacee had gotten to Barden University Campus at the dead of night before students were allowed to come. It's not like they could send her away. So what she was a few hours early, they probably finished cleaning the rooms weeks ago.

Kacee took a deep breath as one of the employees begrudgingly led her to her assigned dorm. They wouldn't be so uptight if they knew the type of household she was trying to escape from.

Entering her room with her luggage and new key, Kacee decided to decorate her half of the room with her film memorabilia instead of sleeping. It wasn't until she was halfway done putting up her Drive poster that she started to doze off.

"Oh, wow." The unfamiliar voice caused her to wake up from her sleep, only to see Ryan Gosling's face a few inches from hers. She carefully removed the poster from her body, guessing it must've fell while she was asleep.

"You've definitely made yourself comfortable." Kacee nodded as the girl gestured to her posters and countless stacks of dvds.

"Yeah, I'm a film major." Kacee sat up, putting on her glasses to get a good look at the girl she'd be sharing a room with for at least the next 4 months.

She was tall, pale, with long brown hair and very thin with well-manicured nails. It wasn't until she bent over to put down her bags that Kacee could see she had large breasts as well. "I'm undecided."

"I'm Kacee." She introduced, holding her hand out to the pretty girl.

"I'm Stacie." The girl responded, shaking her hand.

To Stacie, Kacee looked like a good roommate, but not someone she would usually hang out with. She was wearing sweats, glasses, no makeup, a lot of ear piercings and her hair obviously had never come in contact with a straightener.

"I think the activities fair is today. Do you wanna come?" Kacee offered, but Stacie shook her head.

"No, I have to unpack and get ready for all the welcome back parties tonight." Kacee's eyebrows nearly reached her hairline at that. She didn't know whether to be jealous or concerned.

"Ok, then I'll see you later?" Kacee asked out of politeness.

"Probably not." Stacie answered as Kacee exited the room.

Taking a second to gather her bearings after realizing she'd be shacking up with someone who was literally there for the college experience, Kacee headed down to the activities fair as planned.

On the train to Barden, Kacee had been texting her friend Leah. Leah was deaf, but Leah was her rock and without her, Kacee would've went off the deep end a long time ago. Leah was always there when she needed her and they used sign language or written word to communicate. They'd met through dancing together in high school and have been friends ever since.

After she told her about what she'd just ran away from at home, Leah commended her for leaving early and told her to try and find an outlet at Barden that would help get her mind off things and Kacee intended to do just that.

She rushes outside, not paying attention to where she's going when she runs directly into someone significantly shorter than her, the person's face literally coming in contact with her chest.

Stepping away, Kacee immediately apologizes to the fair skinned girl and together they laugh it off.

"Eager to get to the activities fair?" The girl jokes and Kacee smiles, holding her hand out to the pretty brunette, wondering if everyone at this school was gorgeous.

"My name's Kacee." The girl smiles back, eagerly shaking her hand.

"I'm Beca." She responds as they continue to walk together.

"Hey, any interest in joining our a capella group?" A redheaded girl asks, holding a flier out to the both of them.

Kacee looked at the blonde next to her who did not look welcoming in the slightest. Together, they pretty much looked to be the opposite of her and Beca.

The flier Beca accepted was covered in music notes and looked like it was designed by a teenage white girl who was obsessed with Taylor Swift with a title that said "Barden Bellas." Kacee was far from interested, but Beca kept talking to them and it'd be awkward to just walk away. "Oh right. This is like a thing now."

"Oh totes." The redhead replied. "We sing covers of songs, but we do it without any instruments. It's all from our mouths."

Beca and Kacee shared a look as Beca whispered "Yikes." And yet the redhead went on.

"There's four groups on campus, the Bellas, that's us. We're the tits." Kacee frowned at her word choice.

"The BU harmonics, they sing a LOT of Madonna." That group was wearing preppy clothing and rubbing each other's shoulders.

"Uh, the high notes. They're not particularly motivated." Ahh, the classic stoner group.

"And then there's…" the redhead gestured to behind them where a group of typical party college boys were singing a decent version of "Let it Whip" by Dazz Band.

"So, are you ladies interested?" Kacee shook her head frantically, but Beca decided to be nicer about it.

"Sorry, it's just, it's pretty lame." The blonde instantly jumped down her throat.

"Aca-scuse me? Synchronized lady dancing to a Mariah Carey chart topper is not lame." She defended with a fake laugh.

"We sing all over the world and compete in national championships." The redhead continued.

"On purpose?" Beca asked, causing Kacee to hold in her laughter.

"We play the Cobb Energy Performing arts center, you bitch." The blonde quipped, causing Kacee to cease her laughter.

"Excuse me?" The tall Kacee intervened, causing the blonde to shrink back.

"What Aubrey means to say is that we are a close knit talented group of ladies whose dream is to return to the National Finals at Lincoln Center this year. Help us turn our dreams into a reality?" The redhead pleaded.

"No." Kacee bluntly stated before walking away, Beca following behind.

"Can you believe that _actually_ just happened?" Beca asked, obviously amused by the entire situation.

"Did you see how scared she was when I spoke up?" Beca nodded, laughing at the closeted prejudiced, bitchy blonde. "I like how you just said 'no' all deadpan before walking away."

Together, they laughed and made jokes all the way to the internship booth.

* * *

Within weeks, Kacee was well into her training as her job of projectionist for the campus theatre. She hadn't had much experience with 35mm film before, so it was taking her a while to get used to it and she could tell her boss Derek was getting annoyed.

And until she could build an entire reel by herself, she was given clean up duty. She obviously wasn't too pleased, but it was better than not working there at all.

That night, they'd just shown the very dude friendly, Animal House to perpetuate the stereotype that college was a total party experience to all the freshmen there.

The theatre was packed with guys which meant that it was sure to be messy, which meant Kacee wouldn't be getting back to her room until about 1. Hopefully Stacie would be done fucking her flavor of the week by the time she got back. She'd seen Stacie getting fucked roughly in impossible positions enough to last a lifetime

As the guys left the theatre, she stood to the side with a dust pan and broom, offering a tight lipped smile to each and every one.

Once they left, she got to work immediately, putting her headphones in as she swept.

Trying to sweep as efficiently as she could, so she could leave at a reasonable time, Kacee did not notice a guy coming back to get his backpack that he'd accidentally left behind.

He intended to leave right away, but she was singing "Smile" by Lily Allen so perfectly, he couldn't help but to stop and listen.

Kacee had turned to grab the dustpan when in the corner of her eye, she saw a guy a few rows away watching her. Instinctually, she jumped, pulling out her headphones.

"Can I help you?" Kacee asked, attempting to maintain her professionalism despite her heart beating rapidly against her ribcage.

"No, sorry. I just forgot my backpack." The boy stated, obviously amused with her reaction.

Kacee could do nothing, but watch him expectantly, waiting for him to leave. "You have a beautiful voice."

Kacee furrowed her brow, wondering exactly how long had he been there? "Have you thought about joining any a capella groups on campus?"

She took that moment to look at this creep. He was short innocent looking brunette with a bit of color to him. He didn't appear to be a stoner, a preppy gay guy or a douche bag, so maybe he wasn't in any a capella group. But he did come see Animal House tonight which happened to be a total sausage fest, so he was possibly part of the asshole group.

"No." Kacee laughed. "Bad experience."

"Well the Bellas are down two members already. I think you'd be a perfect fit." He pressed.

Kacee gave him an awkward smile before he left, letting out a cynical laugh in his absence. Her? Fit in the Bellas? It was **not** going to happen.

* * *

The next day, Kacee had the day off work and class, so she decided to skype Leah, hoping she'd be online.

She knew Stacie had class at this time, so she wouldn't get any odd looks for signing at the screen without saying a word.

'K.C!' Leah signed with enthusiasm getting Kacee to laugh. 'Hi, Leah.'

'How's school going?' Leah asked, being the only person in Kacee's life to care about her education.

'Good.' Kacee answered honestly. Her classes were easy so far and she'd been enjoying them a lot. Even the mandatory ones.

'And your temper?' Leah asked and could already see the agitation on Kacee's face.

Kacee explained everything about her boss and how he treated her like shit because she was a freshman, making her do the crappy jobs with crappy hours and how her sleeping schedule is fucked up now because of it.

'It doesn't sound like that's much of a stress reliever for you.' Leah stated.

'Don't worry, it will be once I actually start projecting.' Kacee answered, but Leah still didn't seem pleased.

'Maybe you should figure out a new outlet for the time being.' Leah suggested and Kacee knew she was right.

Unfortunately, the Bellas were the first thing to come to mind.


	2. No Diggity

"Hey, Stacie. Do you know anything about the Bellas?" Kacee asked her roommate from her desk.

"Why? Do you want to join?" Stacie asked feigning ignorance despite the smile on her face. Also, Kacee had yet to turn around from her desk, so it didn't matter if she saw her or not.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it." Kacee didn't seem too enthused.

"I heard they practiced in Field Hall auditorium at 5 on Fridays." Kacee furrowed her brow at Stacie's detailed answer before shrugging it off and writing it down on a post it note.

Carrying the post it note on her index finger, Kacee made her way to Field Hall. Only a few feet into the building and she could already hear the terrible singing. She could turn away now, but she wasn't joining to win anything. And she wasn't the best singer herself, so she couldn't judge.

Sighing, Kacee made her way into the auditorium in the middle of their dastardly practice. Amongst the awkward group of girls, she was shocked to see both Beca from the activities fair and her roommate Stacie doing the stiffest choreography she'd ever seen.

"Oh. Hello." The redhead from the beginning of the semester greeted.

All the girls stopped what they were doing to see who was being addressed. Stacie had a smirk on her face and Beca gave a small wave.

"Hi, my name's Kacee and I'm well aware that I'm too late to audition, but I'd been informed that you ladies were in need of another member… multiple times… by multiple people." The blonde was not happy at all and was angry at her word choice for making them seem desperate.

"We-" Aubrey started. "would love to hear you perform." The redhead finished, ignoring the death glare from the leader.

"Right now?" Kacee asked, not really having prepared anything, like a dumbass.

The girls nodded, eager to hear her sing. "Ok. Umm,

Find light in the beautiful sea

I chose to be happy

You and I, you and I

We're like diamonds in the sky

You're a shooting star I see

A vision of ecstasy

When you hold me, I'm alive

We're like diamonds in the sky

I knew that we'd become one right away

Oh, right away

At first sight I left the energy of sun rays

I saw the life inside your eyes

So shine bright, tonight you and I

We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky

Eye to eye, so alive

We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky

Shine bright like a diamond

Shine bright like a diamond

Shining bright like a diamond

We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky"

Kacee ended there, not wanting to sing the whole song, especially if this was going to end the way she expected.

All of the girls offered expressions or sounds of agreement to show that they enjoyed it, except Aubrey of course. She seemed like the only person who didn't recognize the song which wasn't surprising in the slightest to Kacee.

The blonde in question stomped right up to her, which was an improvement compared to the last time they met. At least now she had the balls to tell her she didn't want her in her group.

"What exactly are your qualifications?" Kacee would've been surprised that Aubrey was actually giving her a chance if she hadn't seen everyone else's reactions. It would've been hard to say no when 9 people were obviously thinking yes.

"I'm an alto, I can rap and most importantly, I am well versed in all genres of music ranging from the 50's to now." Kacee stated pointedly to Aubrey, knowing she'd take it offensively.

The two girls glared at each other, Aubrey not wanting to announce her as a Bella, Kacee not wanting to give her more attention than she already had.

"Can you dance?" the redhead butted in.

They spent the rest of practice introducing their selves to Kacee and trying to catch her up on the music and choreography.

"Welcome, Bella." Stacie taunted before packing up to leave. Kacee shook her head at her roommate, making a mental note to get revenge one of these days.

She seriously had no idea this is where she went every night. She'd come to the dorm exhausted, so of course Kacee thought she'd been having sex at a guy's dorm for once instead of theirs.

"We were talking the biggest shit at the beginning of the semester-" Beca started.

"And yet, here we are." Kacee finished. "Maybe they put a spell on us or something because none of us look like willing participants here."

"Chloe cornered me in the shower." Beca admitted, causing Kacee to laugh.

"Aww, I'm jealous. I just fell for the whole Mariah Carey chart topper thing." Kacee joked.

"It was the only music related club where I didn't have to play an instrument." Beca admitted.

"Well, what exactly were you looking for?" Kacee asked out of curiosity.

"A DJ club." Beca whispered out of embarrassment.

"Oh really? You DJ? That's so cool! I can't do it for real, but I am pretty good at DJ hero." Beca just stared at Kacee blankly. "You've never played?" Kacee asked rhetorically, not waiting for Beca to answer. Instead, she pulled Beca's arm, leading her back to the dorms. "You are coming over and playing it right now!"

After playing for about a half hour, Beca had gotten the hang of it and had started to beat Kacee at her own game. "Ok, ok. I believe that you are a DJ." Kacee put down the turntable, finally admitting defeat.

"A damn good DJ." Beca added pointing to her score on the screen which was significantly larger than Kacee's.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not blind." Kacee said before turning her wii off.

"Oh! Oh! You just joined the Bellas and I know how much you hate Aubrey, but you have to watch this video!" Beca got up from Kacee's bed and went to her computer to pull up a video on youtube.

It was the Bellas performing at last year's finals doing the same song and choreography that she'd seen them doing today at practice and they were so stiff and boring, it was actually painful to watch.

Not too long into it, Aubrey completely threw up all over the first few rows including the person holding the camera. Kacee laughed hysterically at what had to be Aubrey's most embarrassing moment of her life.

"No fucking way." Kacee got out between laughs and Beca nodded.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who noticed it was the same song and dance-" "No! I saw it too and I was only just here today. What the hell? Why are we doing the same fucking routine?" Kacee asked, outraged.

"Something to do with redemption?" Beca offered.

"Making 10 other girls suffer for your mistake is unfair. Hasn't she heard of the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few? I do not want to do that basic ass choreography, ever!" Kacee ranted.

"Going rogue already?" Beca teased, glad the she wasn't the only Bella opposed to Aubrey's leadership.

"Don't tempt me." Kacee answered, lifting a warning finger to her newfound friend.

* * *

Together, Kacee and Stacie made their way to the empty pool on the edge of campus to what Chloe referred to as a Riff Off.

She nearly slipped off the ladder when she saw the guy who told her to join the Bellas. He was looking extra cute in his plaid shirt and peacoat, but her smile immediately faltered. A crush is not what she needed right now.

Besides, he was a treblemaker and there was that whole pact she had to make about wolves and stuff and Kacee believed keeping her throat would be essential to staying in the Bellas. Or maybe she should get involved in a treble so she could get out of the worst club ever founded.

The boy was shocked to see her there, promptly giving her a nice bright smile that made her feel incredibly warm inside.

For a second, she thought he was trying to distract her because now, she'd missed the rules.

Their first category was ladies of the 80's and although she may not have understood fully, Aubrey was taking her sweet ass time trying to come up with something, so without permission, Kacee ran to the middle of the four groups, beating the treblemakers there and belting,

"There's a boy I know, he's the one I dream of  
Looks into my eyes, takes me to the clouds above  
Ooh I lose control, can't seem to get enough  
When I wake from dreaming, tell me is it really love"

She tried her hardest not to look at the cute one as she sang, but she could see his grin in her peripheral as he stood next to their short leader. She finally loosened up when the rest of the girls started to provide back up.

"How will I know (Don't trust your feelings)  
How will I know  
How will I know (Love can be deceiving)  
How will I know  
How will I know if he really loves me

I say a prayer with every heart-"

The treblemakers interrupted with their version of "Hey Mickey", startling Kacee who'd been singing with her eyes closed.

"-heart when you take me by the hand  
Oh Mickey, you're so pretty, can't you understand  
It's guys like you, Mickey  
Ooh what you do Mickey, do Mickey  
Don't break my heart, Mickey"

The cute one smiled as they got in her personal space, cutting off her Whitney jam with the cheesy cheerleading anthem. Rolling her eyes, Kacee walked back to the Bellas to figure out their next move.

"Oh Mickey  
You're so fine  
You're so fine  
You blow my mind  
Hey Mickey! Hey! Hey!  
Hey Mickey! Hey! Hey!

Oh Mickey  
You're so fine-"

But their rude asses got cut off by the harmonics. Kacee liked 80's music. Maybe she should've joined their group.

"-fine and you're mine  
I'll be yours till the end of time  
Cause you made me feel  
Yeah, you made me feel  
Shiny and new

Like a virgin  
Touched for the very first time  
Like-"

And Queen Aubrey to save the day with her boring ass choice of an 80's song.

"-like the one in me  
That's O.K., lets see how you do it  
Put up your dukes, lets get down to it!  
Hit Me With Your Best Shot!  
Why Don't You Hit Me With Your Best Shot!  
Hit Me With Your Best Shot!  
Fire Away-"

The Bellas were pretty solid until one of the stoner girls cut them off and it was obvious no one had any idea what song she was trying to express through her drug riddled brain, but whatever it was, it was unsuccessful, causing the High Notes to get kicked out of the game. But as usual, they cared about nothing.

The next category was songs about sex and right away, Amy nudged Kacee "Go ahead Ms. Spontaneous."

Blushing, Kacee shook her head. She could sing about love all day, but sex was a different story. Especially when there was someone present that she wouldn't mind having sex with.

Doing the same thing Kacee'd done in the round before, without much thought, just gut feeling, Cynthia Rose jumped in with "S&M" lyrics by Rihanna.

"Na na na na na  
Come on  
Na na na  
Come on  
Come on  
Come on  
Na na na na"

And Stacie went to join her in the chorus, totally grinding on her in front of the treblemakers. It was positive that they were adding this moment to their spank bank. The Bellas may not be magnificently talented, but if they were one thing, it was pretty.

"Cause I may be bad  
But I'm perfectly good at it  
Sex in the air  
I don't care  
I love the smell of it  
Sticks and stones  
May break my bones  
But chains and whips  
Excite me"

By this point, all the girls had joined in and were jamming to their rendition to one of the most sex fueled songs in existence, and they had just gotten started!

"Cause I may be bad  
But I'm perfectly good at it  
Sex-"

"-sex, baby  
Let's talk about you and me  
Let's talk about all the good things  
And the bad things that may be  
Let's talk about sex  
Let's talk about sex  
Let's talk about sex baby-"

The Trebles cut in and Kacee was surprised they were actually singing songs that weren't written by anyone with a y chromosome. Cynthia Rose walked back to the Bellas, but Stacie wasn't having any of it.

"Baby all through the night  
I'll make love to you  
Like you want me to  
And-"

Excited that she pulled a Boyz II Men song, Kacee was eager to join despite how sultry it was. But as soon as she stepped forward, the cute treble stepped up to her singing "Feels like the first time" by Foreigner, causing her to walk away without hesitation. She was **not** going to let him seduce her.

"And I know that it must be the woman in you  
That brings out the man in me  
I know I can't help myself  
You're all that my eyes can see"

Kacee was trying to hide the fact that she was embarrassed, but even her complexion couldn't hide the blush on her face. And it didn't help that he was looking directly at her as he sang it.

"And it feels like the first time  
Like it never did before  
Feels like the first time  
Like we've opened up the door  
Feels like the first time  
Like it never will again, never again"

Kacee couldn't help but to laugh as he pulled his peacoat open as he sang and she could tell Aubrey was pissed that they couldn't figure out a way to get back in.

"Feels like the first time, it feels like the first time  
It feels like the very first time, very, very, it feels  
It feels like the first time, oh it feels like the first time  
It-"

"It's going down, fade to Blackstreet  
The homies got RB, collab' creations  
Bump like Acne, no doubt  
I put it down, never slouch  
As long as my credit can vouch  
A dog couldn't catch me ass out  
Tell me who can stop when Dre making moves  
Attracting honeys like a magnet  
Giving em eargasms with my mellow accent  
Still moving this flavour  
With the homies Blackstreet and Teddy  
The original rump shakers"

Kacee knew the words, it was definitely up there in her favorite 90's R&B songs in existence. But she was stunned that Beca even knew it existed, let alone all the lyrics to it!

The other Bellas seemed lost though and when Kacee realized that Beca needed some assistance, she took the stage, so to speak.

"Shorty get down, good Lord  
Baby got em up open all over town  
Strictly biz, she don't play around  
Cover much ground, got game by the pound  
Getting paid is a forte  
Each and every day, true player way  
I can't get her out of my mind  
(what)  
I think about the girl all the time

I like the way you work it  
No diggity, I got to back it up

I like the way you work it  
No diggity, I got to back it up"

At this point in the song, all the Bellas had joined in (except Aubrey who Kacee suspected hadn't ever heard the song in her life) and even the entire pool crowd. Beca's singing lead, Cynthia Rose is killing the harmonies, the surrounding groups are chiming in with the 'hey yo's, Chloe and the other girls were taking care of the humming and keeping the beat, Lily was pretending to shoot the boys while Kacee, Stacie and Amy were taking care of the 'No Diggity's. Kacee even backing it up on Amy, keeping true to what the song was really about.

"I like the way you work it  
No diggity, I got to back it up babe

Hey yo, hey yo, hey yo, hey yo

No diggity, I got to back it up babe

Hey yo, hey yo, hey yo, hey yo

I like the way you work it  
No diggity, I got to back it up"

Everyone cheered for the Bellas except the treblemakers, the cute one's smirk still permanently on his lips.

In the midst of their celebration, one of the judges walked up to them hands on his hips before stating "Tough blow, ladies. The word you had to match was 'it', and you sang 'it's'." Then they did the ridiculous cut off thing like they did earlier, the trebles overreacting to their win.

"You hate R&B, don't you? Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't." Kacee tried to argue with the judge, but he just walked over to the trebles to hand them their precious mic.

As Aubrey pulled the girls away, the bane of Kacee's existence approached her, catching her off guard. "So you joined…" He stated, not even trying to hide his satisfaction on his stupid face.

Doing her best to not be intimidated by him, Kacee looked him square in the eyes while talking to him, her blush hopefully long gone. "You know, I don't even know your name."

"Jesse." He answered with a smile on his face. "Yours?"

She'd been watching the leader of the trebles sexually harass Amy with the stupid prize microphone and she could see how uncomfortable she was. "Hold that thought."

Running up to the pair, Kacee snatched the mic from the creepy hobbit and starts hitting him with it until he runs away.

Ignoring the insults the midget was giving her, she walked back to Jesse, handed him the mic and said, "Kacee" before walking right past him to the Bellas.

* * *

At the regionals, Kacee had enjoyed the Sockapellas far more than she enjoyed their own performance. That is until Fat Amy tore up the stage like she expected. What did Aubrey expect when she allowed Amy to take Chole's solo?

Leaving the stage, Kacee made a face at Jesse and he mouthed that they did great, causing her to playfully flip him off before they took the stage, knowing they were going to kill it.

Initially, Kacee found them too theatrical and their choice in song questionable, but when she realized they had Jesse singing the lead for most of it, she found the performance very enjoyable.

Their choreography was gimmicky, but she could stand it just to hear Jesse rap.

But she wasn't expecting Jesse to point in her general direction before closing his eyes and stroking his neck while singing a song about getting head! Every time he performed it was like he was trying to kill her.

All in all, the Bellas were satisfied with moving on to the next round and on their way out of the auditorium, they stopped on the stairs, seeing the trebles arguing with a group of older guys. One of them had Donald in a headlock and another was trying to get Jesse into it as well, but he was trying his hardest to avoid him.

Not wanting to get involved due to her history with violence, Kacee chose to stay on the stairs, but Beca and Amy went to his rescue. First with Beca slapping the guy, then Amy kicking him in the nuts. Then Amy took the first place trophy from Jesse and threatened to shove it up the guy's butt and it appeared that he wanted her to, but Beca wasn't having it.

They both took hold of the trophy, Beca's tiny grip being a little bit stronger, causing the rest that Amy'd been holding onto to fly right out of a closed window.

The trebles and the old guys ran away, Amy following behind, but Kacee and Jesse chose to stay behind as Beca's witnesses while the police approached.

The whole hour Beca was in jail, Kacee tried reasoning with the cops that it was an accident using physics to explain that it would've been impossible for someone of Beca's strength to break that window by herself. Not to mention, the piece she was holding onto was still in both her hands!

"It should be required for cops to take a physics course before they get their badge." Kacee suggested, taking a seat next to Jesse in the waiting area.

"They're letting her out in like 5 minutes, don't worry." Jesse assured.

"Yeah? How'd you make that happen?" Kacee asked.

"I called her dad." Jesse admitted, nodding to the ginger guy in a peacoat talking to Officer Jacobs.

"Noooo. Oh no. Jesse, she fucking hates her dad." Kacee informed him.

"Yeah, well do you have $200 to bail her out?" Jesse tried to reason, but Kacee was serious.

"I know Beca and I know that she'd rather spend her night in jail waiting for the Bellas to round up $200 than have her dad ever find out about this." Kacee couldn't believe that he wasn't aware of how proud of a person Beca was.

While Jesse was walking out with Beca, Kacee took the time to try and soothe the nerves of Mr. Mitchell, attempting to debunk whatever the policeman had told him.

"Dad, it's not a big deal." Beca assured her father.

"Yeah, it's a big deal. I get a call in the middle of the night saying my daughter's been arrested for destruction of property?" He reminded, completely brushing off everything Kacee had told him.

"I'm sure Officer Jacobs and Kacee have already told you it was a complete misunderstanding. I was protecting my friends. I was putting myself out there, making memories!" Beca defended, but he wasn't listening.

"If you think I'm paying for you to go to L.A. after a stunt like this, I'm not. Get in the car." The asshole demanded.

"You're not even gonna hear what I have to say about this?" Beca asked, pissed off that he wasn't trying to get her side of the story.

"No, not tonight. Just get in." Kacee hugged Beca before allowing her to get in the car with her dad.

Both Kacee and Jesse felt guilty for two different reasons as they watched the car drive out of the parking lot.

And since neither of them had a car, they decided to walk back to the dorms together to keep each other company.

"You know, I think a prison break would've went better than that." Jesse broke the silence only half joking.

"Are we talking Shawshank or the Great Escape?" Kacee asked, the two most famous prison break films coming to mind.

"The Great Escape for sure. But film wise, I'd have to say that Shawshank is better." Kacee grinned at him, trying her hardest to stay cool when talking about movies.

"I would have to agree. I mean, that was Frank Darabont's _first_ feature film!" Jesse lit up at their conversation, not ashamed to spaz in front of her.

"That score was definitely a huge part as to why I liked it." Jesse confessed, stopping in front of the girls' dorms.

"If you like movie music, you should stop by the theatre tomorrow, we're playing Inception. I've never seen it with a decent sound system before." Kacee offered before she could stop herself.

Jesse looked taken aback and instantly, she was reminded why she never flirted with anyone, because she always ended up freaking them out and scaring them away.

"I'd love that." Jesse said, accepting her offer.

It took Kacee a minute to realize he said yes, resulting in her having a delayed reaction. "Oh! Ok, great. Then I will see you tomorrow."

Jesse nodded with a smirk, waving goodbye before going in the opposite direction to the boys' dorms leaving Kacee to stare at his retreating form before heading upstairs.


	3. Bulletproof?

First thing in the morning, Kacee texted Leah all about last night and her best friend was happy to hear that she'd restrained herself when presented with violence and she was proud of whatever Kacee had going on with Jesse even if neither girl wasn't quite sure exactly what it was yet.

Kacee didn't need Leah's blessing, but she felt better about the situation after telling someone who preferably was not a Bella.

Getting to work early, Kacee got started on building the Inception reel. She had finally earned the privilege of projectionist much to Derek's annoyance. And since she'd signed up for weekend afternoons, she got the peaceful and quiet shifts where there would be about a dozen people in the audience, maybe less since it was Sunday.

It wasn't until the film started going that she started to wonder where Jesse was. They never clarified the exact time or place and they didn't exchange numbers so Kacee was just going to wait for him when the film was over.

Kacee had seen Inception more times than she could count, so she knew the dull knocking was not diegetic to Saito's second layer.

Realizing it was the door to the booth, Kacee rushed to open it, hoping it wasn't Derek doing an impromptu check on her.

"I brought popcorn." It was Jesse and he was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt that fit him so perfectly, Kacee couldn't help but to check him out as she let him into the booth.

Kacee pulled up a stool for him next to hers in the tiny space next to the loud projector. Their proximity and the fact that they were going to have to talk a bit louder was already making this weird for her.

Jesse offered her some popcorn as he made himself comfortable, but she declined hoping he didn't find it rude.

It was Jesse, of course he didn't! "Top reason why you love Inception other than the music, go!"

She furrowed her brow at that. "Why other than the music?"

Jesse shrugged before nibbling on some popcorn. "To most, the music is a given."

Kacee couldn't believe his word choice. "To most? Are you the only person on the planet who doesn't like Hans Zimmer's work?"

Jesse kept his eyes glued to the screen, murmuring in response. "I like Hans Zimmer just fine. Just not his recent stuff."

Even with his mumbling, Kacee could hear everything he'd just said. "So by recently, you mean the Batman trilogy, every Pirates of the Caribbean film and the Sherlock Homes films?"

As sheepish as he was, Jesse continued to debate with Kacee. "In comparison to A League of Their Own, Lion King and Gladiator, those scores don't even come close."

It didn't matter how good looking he was at the moment, Kacee was getting awfully close to strangling the boy. "Ok, then who would you say is better than Hans himself?"

"John Williams. His career has been consistently badass since the 60's. That man is responsible for the chills you get whenever Darth Vader's on screen and for every tear you've ever shed during Harry Potter." All Kacee could do was shake her head. "How are we friends again?"

Jesse smiled at her before answering. "Because we are two mature adults with a common interest in film who will continue to respect each other despite differing opinions."

Kacee just glared at him wordlessly before holding her hand out for some popcorn. Jesse hesitantly gave her the bag before returning his attention to the psychological heist film. Dom had just met up with Eames when Jesse could feel something being thrown at him. Looking down at his lap, he knew he shouldn't have given Kacee that popcorn.

Turning to look at her, she feigned ignorance, trying to hardest to look innocent as she stared at the screen in front of her. "Sorry Kacee, but there's only two people I trust. One of them's me. The other's no longer you." Jesse recited before taking his bag of popcorn away from her.

She gawked at him before breaking out into laughter. "Did you- just quote- Con Air?" She made out between laughs and Jesse could do nothing, but smile at her.

* * *

Since Kacee was the only person who was willing to listen to Beca's mixes, Beca gave her every single track that she'd ever made and Kacee'd been listening to them nonstop to balance out the monstrosity of a mashup the Bellas had on repeat for months now. That's how she recognized remix to Bulletproof on the bus while she listened to the school radio via her ipod.

The song had long been off by the time Beca got on the bus, but Kacee wanted to give Beca her accolades anyway. "Congrats, Beca!" Kacee yelled when she took her seat, making all the girls jump. Beca smiled back at her for 1)Not realizing how loud she was talking and 2) Being the only person who cared about her song being played. The two girls high fived, oblivious to the glare Aubrey was giving them.

While stopping off at the gas station, through her headphones, Kacee heard a thump and then saw the treble coach bus speed past them.

"Did anyone hear that?" Kacee asked aloud, causing Beca to look at her incredulously while shaking her head no.

"I'VE JUST BEEN SHOT!" The girls took one look at each other before jumping off the bus to see what Fat Amy had been yelling about and if she was serious.

Beca, Cynthia Rose and Lily were the first ones out, Kacee trailing behind, surprised to see Amy covered in what looked like beans.

"Bumper threw a big ass burrito at me!" Now that was just playing dirty, no pun intended.

In the disgusting gas station bathroom, the four of them tried their hardest to get the stains out of Amy's shirt, but it just wasn't working. Luckily, she still had her blazer on the bus that would hide most of it. That meant no removal of clothes like last time which probably pleased Aubrey to no end.

Back on the bus, Kacee was plotting a way to get back at Bumper for his little prank. It had to be public and mortifying and he would deserve everything he had coming based on how shitty he treated Amy. Yes, they were on opposing teams, but they're from the same school and the trebles win every year, so why was he going out of his way to torture her?

But because of Chloe singing an annoyingly catchy song, Kacee's plotting of revenge was going to have to be put on hold. And she didn't even like Miley Cyrus.

"I hopped off the plane at L.A.X.  
With a dream and my cardigan  
Welcome to the land of fame excess,  
Am I gonna fit in?

Jumped in the cab,  
Here I am for the first time  
Look to my right and I see the Hollywood sign  
This is all so crazy  
Everybody seems so famous  
My tummy's turnin' and I'm feelin' kinda home sick  
Too much pressure and I'm nervous,  
That's when the taxi man turned on the radio  
And a Jay-Z song was on  
And the Jay-Z song was on  
And the Jay-Z song was on"

All the girls stopped singing and looked to Beca the only person who wasn't singing to join them in their spontaneous jam session. Chloe started the musical number and she had nodes. And if the rest of them got wrangled into that guilty pleasure of a song, then so was she.

"So I put my hands up  
They're playing my song,  
And the butterflies fly away  
I'm noddin' my head like yeah  
I'm movin' my hips like yeah  
I got my hands up,  
They're playin' my song  
I know I'm gonna be OK  
Yeah, it's a party in the USA  
Yeah, it's a party in the USA"

But their party was cut short when they ran out of gas. In all honesty, it wasn't Amy's fault. It was mostly Bumper's fault for being an asshole and their fault for not remembering to fill the tank while Amy was being overdramatic about being hit with a burrito.

So Amy called Bumper for a lift and that's when Kacee realized that he liked her. The teasing, the taunting, the fact that he had her number and Amy was gorgeous with a lovely accent.

Getting on the boys' fancy coach bus, Kacee couldn't help but to compare Amy's situation to her own and she was jealous. Sure, Jesse never was cruel to her, but he never showed that he liked her either. He never went out of his way to get her attention, they've only hung out once and they never even exchanged numbers. Yes, Kacee was happy to not have ever been hit with a burrito, but at least Amy and Bumper talked and here Jesse was, sitting across from her not having said a word since they got on the bus.

She'd never even seen Lily speak to a treble before and there she was at the front of the bus, getting cozy with Donald!

It was just hiting her that their friendship was very hush hush. And not even just from Aubrey, from the trebles too and she knew for a fact they didn't have to make any stupid wolf pact when it came to girls.

If Bumper and Donald could openly talk to a Bella, then why couldn't he?

* * *

Backstage at the semifinals, Kacee chose to focus on their competition instead of whatever it was that she had going on with Jesse.

It was obvious that the Bellas weren't going to beat the footnotes with their usual routine, but that wasn't what was bothering Kacee. The longer she watched them, the more confused she became. The leader of the group seemed really familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on as to why.

The other Bellas were letting the performance get under their skin, but Kacee shrugged it off mumbling "I can do better footwork than that."

"Aca-huddle, now." Aubrey ordered. "The top two teams go to the finals, so we just have to beat one of them. If we do it exactly the way we rehearsed it, we will get there, ok? **Exactly**." She finished with a pointed look towards Amy.

Kacee knew they were doomed, the crowd loved the footnotes and they were definitely going to love the trebles. What they weren't going to love was the tired ass routine they were about to do.

And as they sang, Kacee could tell by the audience's reactions that her prediction was right and all these months, she'd been trying not to care about the competition, but she'd be damned if she didn't go down swinging.

Like an answer to her prayers, Beca had started belting the chorus to "Bulletproof" which matched perfectly with their flat medley. Kacee felt obliged to join her in belting it out. And while Aubrey was glaring daggers at the two of them, Kacee and Beca exchanged grins at their rebellion.

As soon as they were out of sight from the audience, Kacee pulled Beca into a hug, but their celebration was short lived when Aubrey rounded on them. "What the hell, Beca! Were you trying to screw us up?"

"Are you serious?" Beca retorted.

"Newsflash! This isn't the Beca show!" Aubrey harked and Kacee felt the need to put her in her place. "Excuse me, but I was singing Bulletproof with her and no, we were not trying to screw you up! Quite the opposite actually!"

"We're sorry that we messed you up, but it's like Kacee and I are the only ones with eyes. Did you see everyone pretty much dozed off during our set-" "It's not your job to decide what we do and when we do it. Why don't you ask someone other than your fellow mutineer what they thought about your little improvisation." Aubrey snapped.

The rest of the girls avoided their eye contact, but Beca called Amy out anyways. "It was cool, but… it did take us a little bit by surprise…" she admitted and it wasn't even that bad of an opinion.

"Yeah, a lot by surprise! I told you not to talk to them at the activities fair because I knew they weren't Bella material." Aubrey spat at the duo, but Chloe tried to stop her.

"Aubrey, don't-" "No, that's ok. You don't have to pretend like you have a say in the group, right?" Beca asked, cutting Chloe off and Kacee couldn't help but to laugh.

"I don't know why you're laughing Kacee, when I know you've been talking shit behind my back since the semester started and you dress more like a boy than Cynthia Rose." Although that was true, Kacee knew that the only way Aubrey could've gotten that information was from Beca or her roommate, Stacie. And it was obvious now, which one wouldn't do that to her.

"And Beca, your attitude sucks, you're a grade A pain in my ass and I know you're hooking up with Jesse." If any form of contentedness was left on Kacee's face before that, it was gone now.

"Woah, woah, Aubrey calm down, we're not hooking up. I swear-" Jesse appeared trying to defend himself, but for some reason it pushed Beca to the edge. "Jesus Christ! That's perfect! Of course you're here right now! I don't need your help ok? Could you back off!"

Beca wouldn't be reacting like that if she was innocent and Jesse wouldn't have looked so heartbroken about it either.

Kacee tried her hardest not to cry. It wasn't like Beca or even Jesse were aware of her feelings, but that reasoning didn't make the pain go away. The two of them were integral parts of her college life and now unintentionally, they both just ruined it.


End file.
